Nomads Melbourne

Avoid this hostel at all costs
This hostel has so may problems I'm surprised it hasn't yet been shut down. The hostel is located very far from the city center (which I learned only after I booked it) and much farther away than the other hostels in Melbourne. The management really doesn't care about the backpackers and actually seems to enjoy ruining your holiday once they have your money. I've backpacked all over the world and the travel desk which is "Mad Travel Shop" (company name but part of the hostel) is the worst I've ever encountered. The travel person booked a day tour for me and told me it would arrive back at the hostel at 6 p.m. so I would have plenty of time to get my flight to Cairns at 9:30 p.m. While I was on the tour the tour guide told me we would not get back to the hostel until at least 9:15 p.m. and the hostel screwed up by not telling me that. I spent all day on my cellphone (very expensive at international rates) trying to get the hostel and Mad Travel Shop to help me get another flight and they would not even return my phone calls or let me speak to the manager. I arrived back at the hostel too late for my flight, missed my flight that I already paid for and the management did not even try to put me on another flight early the next day. They told me I had to go in the next morning and talk to the manager. When I arrived at his office the manager would not even talk to me but instead had the travel person tell me I would have to take another 9:30 p.m. flight that night or pay big money for an earlier flight. So I was stuck in Melbourne, lost a day travel time, and got stuck with huge cell phone charges I incurred because of the hostel's unwillingness to help correct their mistakes. Avoid this hostel and save yourself the time, money and hassle that goes along with it. There are too many other better choices in Melbourne so stay away from Nomads and learn from my mistake.

Crap
Check in took half an hour because the staff couldn't work out the internet booking, seemed like it was too complicated, and the booking wasn't made for the correct type of room. then I was asked to change rooms half way through my booking as they couldn't give me the same bed so I wasn't happy as I had to leave the first room by 10 a.m. and then couldn't check back in until 2 p.m. at the earliest. rooms were very cramped, second room was worse, and the other backpackers kept letting in males in the rooms on the girls only floor to do everything they could in their bunk together. Bar drinkers got louder as the night went on so the entire hostel was really noisy. Others in the room kept banging on the door to be let in as reception wouldn't give them another key because they were too drunk on the free glasses of champange they had each in an hour at the bar. Bathrooms were constantly dirty and didn't look like they were cleaned properly in the two days I stayed as I left early one night at midnight to stay in a hotel. Worst backpacker stay ever. Don't bother to get a refund as it was made clear on check in that no refunds would be given.

Inconvenient bathrooms, bad design, no place to lounge happily
I had seen some other recommendations about this place when I arrived in Melbourne. Please don't go here or you'll be bummed about a great city. Let me present a few good things -- it's got a decent staff, the beds are new and clean, the surrounding neighborhood is quiet, and Lincoln Market is right out the back door. Also, the bus to Tullamarine Airport picks up half a block away -- hint hint. Now for the reality check -- I arrived in June, which is winter in Melbourne. Not only was there no central heat (which isn't common in Australia) but there was a giant metal vent in the hallway to keep the air flowing from outside. It could not be closed. It was 5C (42F) outside. There were space heaters in the rooms but you still froze your jumblies off when you got out of the shower. The bar is loud and overly designed. Getting any food was near impossible (everyone else mentioned the horrors of the kitchen already) and there is no other lounge room, except for the cinema room, which has carpeted floors and some pillows but no chairs and harsh lighting. You couldn't hear yourself think in the internet room because the piped-in music was loud and annoying. If you wanted to relax or write in your journal, you had to go down the block to a coffee shop. I had been spoiled because I had stayed in an amazing hostel in Sydney and wound up in another great hostel in Byron Bay. The vibe in this place ruined any attempt to feel at ease, so I left. Oh, and yeah, that elevator is tiny, rickety, scary, and the only way to get to your room. Adding a voiceover that says "Level Four" in a eurodisco, Blade Runner way doesn't make it better. Don't stay here.

Ok, but with major problems
The good point about this hostel is that it's brand new, with a funky bar. This is also a bad point, as design seems to have been done on the back of an envelope. There is just one slow lift for all the floors -- you can't use the stairs. Many of the fittings are already working loose, from handrails to the taps in the basins. Cleaning is a major issue -- it just isn't done in the dorms, and there is rubbish everywhere. The staff told me the kitchen was an afterthought, put in after the place was designed, and was originally a cupboard. Yes, it is that small. And finally, many of the staff have got so fed up of the complaints, that they have quit, leaving the place woefully under-staffed -- for example, at breakfast there is just one person to sell/serve breakfast and check people out on the front desk. Good point though is the bar -- it is funky, and the food is great (if you buy it -- forget the free food, that's a joke -- it's just one slice of pizza or a minute serving of pasta), and thankfully the locals don't seem to have discovered it yet, leaving it much safer than some of the bars in the CBD. It's quite a hike to the CBD -- about forty minutes' walk from Federation Square. Thankfully, there is a free city circle tram just down the street. There is a Global Gossip internet cafe on site, but the main GG cafe around the corner is much cheaper. In short, it's ok, but I would think twice about staying here again until it has a revamp.

Not sure about flashpacking
The Kitchen is very tiny for the amount of people that stay at the hostel. Someone did steal our food. The bathrooms are dirty and the free dinners are an actual joke. At maximum you will get four pasta swirls! I think that most people staying at the hostel work at the hostel. There are much better hostels in Melbourne!

I meant to stay in Melbourne for a few weeks and ended up staying for nearly 3ths (all the time in Nomads)! The staff in the hostel are great generally and I made quite alot of friends in my time here however there are a number of issues that need to be addressed with this hostel sooner rather than later. As previously mentioned, the kitchen is a joke - I've seen bigger and better kitchens in mates' apartments. They need to sort it out long term - offering a free meal everyday isn't enough. The cinema room is also a joke as there's no fan or aircon in there which ay be ok in the winter but certainly not in the summer when temperatures can reach up to 45 degrees celsius! Also there's no TV up there which is annoying as only dvds can be watched. The toilets seem very nice at first glance but after a while the incredibly small sinks and bad workmanship start to annoy. There is only one unbelievably slow lift to service 5 floors for nearly 300 people which is completely unacceptable and very annoying when it's busy. There's a nice rooftop which is completely wasted as there's not even so much as a chair to sit on up there. The decking downstairs adjoined to the pub is great especially for smokers like me! The bar is nicely and expensively furnished but expensive and to be honest I think (well I know..) the management care more about the bar profits than the needs of your average hosteller - not a good thing in the long run. I prefer hostels without a bar anyway to be honest - all you need is a nice outdoor balcony/decking etc where people can drink their own booze and hang out. I'm giving the hostel 3 stars mainly because I had a blast there and the staff are cool. NOT because of the facilities. I'll check it out again whenever I'm back in Melbourne (if it's still there!!)

This hostel is in deep trouble already after 3 months since opening. The kitchen is way to small for the number of people that stay at the place. Worse is that no one cares of cleaning up the kitchen, neither the people that stay there nor the people that work there. Its standards that the dishes is not done and that garbage is left at the floor. Cockroaches must be visiting the hostel in near future. Worse is that fire doors that's supposed to be closed, clearly marked with signs that so is the case, if left wide open in the building, just to make it easier for people, no thoughts about its purpose, to stop an possible fire... Stay out of here.

This hostel has great potential but was still a long way off that when I stayed....it's only recently opened and should really be giving introductory rates until things are running smoothly. Good points: the rooms are clean and have great duvets etc. Great sausage sizzle and other activities. Bad points: Tiny (and dirty) kitchen. No lockers available. Staff seemed more interested in hanging out with their friends in the bar than helping you out at reception.....may have to go on a hunt for them. We upgraded to a top end double for a night - no heating (it was FREEZING!) and TV didn't work (annoyed as we paid so much more for these things). No TV in the TV/cinema room!! This could be a good place but if you're looking for value for money I won't syat there for a good few months...until it's up and running properly!